Donauschwaben's German-American Cultural Center Reviews

I'm a parent of a Bride that recently held her reception (10/25/25) at the Donauschwaben's German-American Cultural Center and this is what we experienced. My Daughter's wedding was roughly 130 people, but the center could hold much more. The tables for the bridal party, guest social hour and buffet were laid out just right so it still felt cozy and not too large. The hall lighting was also proper for both the meal and later dancing. My daughter did decide on up lighting to accent the walls which I would suggest to help lighten the outer edges. Theres a nice entrance way that allows for a little separation from the main hall and if the weather is nice, a large lighted patio just off the side to get some fresh air. Many guest took advantage of these two areas is why they are worth mentioning. The bride and groom choose three main entries to serve and my two favorites were the beef tips and chicken piccata. I will say that if the beef tips are served in the on-site restaurant, I will have to come back! They were very good. The only reason I didn't go back for seconds was because the bride and groom wanted a taco bar to be brought out at the 9:00 hour which apparently is a thing. This was delicious as well with both ground beef and shredded chicken offered with the standard fixings. Final comments on the facility is that it's nice to have the bar in a separate room. Initially there was concern it might be too small a space, but I didn't see or hear of any issues as the night progressed. From what I observed, the staff working the event was very pleasant and helpful. I don't recall plates or glasses/cups piling up on tables which was much appreciated as the evening went on. Christine was our event coordinator. From a parent's vantage point, she was very professional and prompt with answering any questions. I could tell Christine has plenty experience and helped guide my daughter through many of the decisions that had to be made to hoist this type of event. My daughter had a vision of how she wanted some things to flow during the evening which involved changing up the order of a few things and Christine worked through the logistics to make it happen. From pre-set-up through the reception festivities and then the breakdown afterwards, it always seemed to be moving efficiently and that we were in good hands. I've been to this center many a times for Octoberfest and always have enjoyed myself, and now I can say I've been to my daughter's wedding here and enjoyed it as well.

Christine was a pleasure to work with while planning my daughter’s wedding! She answered all our questions promptly and was available for any last minute items we needed. It was a beautiful venue and the food was delicious! Everything went smoothly and I highly recommend booking your wedding at Lenau Park!

We were so overwhelmingly happy with our experience at Donauschwaben’s German-American Cultural Center. Everyone commented on how good the food was, how beautiful the space was and how smoothly the entire day went. We had our ceremony outside and it was beautiful. It was so nice to have the ceremony and reception at the same place. The staff and bartenders were awesome. The schedule went as planned. Christine was awesome and so helpful from the beginning to the end. Christine made the planning process simple and she was so supportive leading up to the wedding day. I would 100% recommend this venue for upcoming weddings. Thank you so much for everything!

My son and daughter-in-law had both their wedding ceremony and reception there and everything was fantastic! Christine was great to work with and the venue turned out so lovely. We received many compliments from our guests on the food and the venue. Everything turned out really great!

The Donauschwaben's German-American Cultural
Center was the perfect venue for our wedding! From the very beginning, Christine had fast and constant communication, making the planning process a breeze.
They truly went above and beyond for us - they set out the desserts, cake, table settings and centerpieces, and Christine provided a schedule that made it super easy for our DJ to follow. The hall was absolutely beautiful, with a huge dance floor that was filled all night long.
The outdoor patio was awesome for guests who wanted to take a break and hang out, and the kids had a blast blowing off steam on the playground. The lighting and overall ambiance of the venue was incredible. We couldn't have asked for a better experience - the Donauschwaben's team made everything a smooth and seamless process from start to finish!

Donaushwaben was a dream to work with and made our special day so much smoother. The attention to detail, accommodations and communication were wonderful during this whole process. Not to mention the food was absolutely delicious! We couldn't have asked for a more perfect wedding!

I can’t say enough good things about Donauschwaben’s German-American Cultural Center. My daughter was not sure where to begin looking for a wedding venue and was overwhelmed at the thought of orchestrating all the vendors and the small details. Christine, Events Manager, was an amazing asset to our family and simplified the entire process. The venue exclusively provides the meals, drinks, wedding location as well as the reception area. They provided the table covers, runners and linens. They even had options to choose for center pieces. It's such an easy way to plan for the big day. Christine was a wealth of knowledge and kept in contact every step of the way. The food was delicious. My daughter and her fiancé had selected the chicken marsala and schnitzel. The guests raved at how good the appetizer, dinner and late night snacks were. All and all, I could not have asked for a better location for my daughters wedding

Donauschwaben's German-American Cultural Center in Olmsted Falls is such a beautiful venue and was perfect for our daughter’s wedding! The staff were easy to work with, always available, and happy to walk us through any detail. The outdoor terrace was also available, complete with tables and chairs to relax while viewing a beautiful lake.
The food was absolutely delicious. All quests were served dinner quickly and we got a lot of compliments on the food. The drinks were incredible and the bar service was fast. There was an open bar and the staff were very friendly and accommodating.
Finally, the wedding wouldn’t have come together without the hard work from Christine, Event Manager at Donauschwaben, for handling all the reception details to perfection! We couldn’t have done it without you!

This venue was awesome! Christine Gray, the event planner, was amazing and was there to work with us from day one to the day of the wedding reception. She always answered texts or calls promptly to make sure we were getting what we wanted.
The bartenders and servers were great too.
The grounds were inviting and enjoyed by our guests. Our guests could not say enough good things about the venue and the delicious foods ( just wish they would allow left over food to be packaged up but we knew this was not allowed)
Overall, our experience was phenomenal and the wedding reception was a fun, elaborate affair enjoyed by our 267 guests.
Thank you for a job well done!

We had the absolute best experience at Donauschwaben’s German-American Cultural Center for our wedding! From start to finish, everything was seamless and stress-free—thanks in large part to Christine, our coordinator. We truly could not have asked for someone better. She was kind, helpful, incredibly flexible, and always on top of communication. Christine answered every question we had (and there were many!), and she constantly looked for ways to ease the planning process for us. She made everything feel so easy.

The event staff was just as impressive—friendly, attentive, and professional. The reception was everything we had dreamed of and more. The grounds were beautiful and made the perfect backdrop for our celebration. The food was served hot, in generous portions, and absolutely delicious—we received so many compliments from our guests!

Without hesitation, we would recommend Donauschwaben’s to anyone planning a wedding. It was the perfect venue for our perfect day!

Our wedding reception at the German-American Cultural Center was absolutely perfect! Our coordinator, Christine, was excellent, paid attention to every detail of our decorating scheme and made many helpful suggestions. When we showed up for the reception, the hall was set up exactly as we had requested. The planning process was easy with Christine and she executed every aspect.

The hall was in beautiful condition, clean, and spacious with plenty of room for eating, mingling, and dancing. The bar service was outstanding and the bartenders were phenomenal, fast, friendly, and knowledgeable about cocktail mixing. We especially liked the outdoor patio area where our guests played cornhole, smoked, or just enjoyed a break from the music overlooking the lovely grounds, including a pond with a fountain.

The food was probably the best we've ever had at a wedding reception. So many guests loved the schnitzel, spaetzle, and gravy. Our gluten-free guests were presented with a special plate without even having to ask for it.

Another great feature of this venue is the lobby area with a fireplace and lovely stone mantel which served as a great backdrop for group photos of reception guests. There was ample parking as well. I cannot recommend this venue enough, you will not be disappointed!

Jennifer Hinton
Mother of the Groom

• We had a fabulous wedding reception at the Donauschwaben German Cultural Center (Lenau Park). Their entire staff—from their awesome coordinator Christine to their banquet captain and bar staff—was so kind, so professional, and most importantly made our guests feel welcome and taken care of. Christine came to every meeting organized and prepared. She understands the details as well as the emotions that go into planning a wedding and was a great part of our support system. She is fair and reasonable—even helped us make a German Hall a little more “Italian” for the bride. We could not have asked for a better partner!
• As for the venue itself, it was the perfect place to host 300 of our closest friends and family. The space was beautiful, bright and happy. Our guests were comfortably seated at 32 round tables of 8 to 10. The team made all of our décor visions come to life. The outdoor patio was welcoming and comfortable for guests as well. The dance floor is huge! Perfect for an Italian tarantella. I would also say the room is set up well acoustically—with 300 people in the room and music playing, you could still hear the other people at your table. The entryway was also perfect for our receiving line. We were happy to see that guests could enjoy their time—whether they wanted to dance the night away, sit and chat, or just enjoy the night air with family.
• The food was excellent—seriously excellent. We got so many compliments after the wedding! They have their buffet line down to a science with all of our guests being served in a reasonable amount of time. They also did a great job of meeting the needs of our gluten- and dairy-free guests. That is so hard to do when you are feeding so many people, and even these guests said they enjoyed their meals.
• Finally, the money we spent on this wedding reception was well worth the value. The food and beverage packages are incredibly fair for the quality and the amount of food your guests will be served. We were also able to add appetizers and some special add-ons at a reasonable rate. The linens are provided by a separate vendor, but even those costs were not too bad, and everything looked beautiful when it was decorated! While there are certain rules the venue must follow and sometimes we needed to negotiate the details, Christine was highly transparent and upfront with us, and always worked with us to find the right solution for our day.
• After hosting our wedding here, we would absolutely do it again with this space and this team. When it comes to the Donauschwaben, we strongly recommend them for your wedding reception and cannot say enough good things about their level of service!

Absolutely amazing venue! Our wedding was perfect. The food was amazing, the space looks gorgeous and our guests had the best time! Christine is amazing and is the biggest help to make sure your day is perfect.

Working with Christine was great. She really listens and did everything to make our event perfect. The room was beautifully decorated. The food was delicious and the staff was very friendly. I would recommend this venue to everyone.

We had our ceremony and reception here in June and I would highly recommend the venue. Working with the Events Manager Christine throughout the entire process was amazing. She was able to answer every question and made the entire process stress free. On the day of the wedding everything was exactly as we expected and the staff was very nice and helpful. If I could do it all over again I would very happily choose the same venue.

Donauschwaben's German-American Cultural Center was the perfect venue for our daughter & son-in-law’s wedding. The location to the airport, highway and hotel were ideal. Their property provided plenty of parking.
The wedding was outside on a 92° day and was flawless. It was hot, but the trees were in the perfect position to shade the entire patio. The entire staff was amazing.
The reception space was transformed into a beautiful space for our special celebration. Our family and friends shared with us how delicious the appetizers, meal and “aftertizers” of the homemade pretzels.
Christine the Event Manager went above and beyond and made sure the day was special for everyone. She answered all of my questions, even up to the last minute. We were so impressed with how many times Christine checked in with us to make sure we were happy. We highly recommend Donauschwaben’s German-American Cultural Center.

Wedding venue shopping is a lot on a couple. It takes time and energy and can be very stressful. However, when we say we found the perfect place we mean it. Donauschwaben’s was one of our venue choices coming highly recommended by our friends and family already. We reached out through their website and within no time we got an immediate response from the Christine, Event/ Wedding planner to set up a meeting together. She is not only extremely kind, but had everything organized so beautifully to choose from it was a no-brainer to choose this venue. She even recommended our DJ who had played a previous wedding there who was incredible. All communication leading up to our big day was efficient and layed out easily for us to understand. Our checks were deposited in a timely manner by the venue, our tasting was so nice and so delicious. The no pressure wedding planning was worth every penny spent. Our wedding day was so special and so beautiful from start to finish from the ceremony, to the cocktail hour, to our lovely reception to follow. Not only was Christine present the day of, but the staff was also on their A game all night long. Everyone was so incredibly friendly and kind, we felt like royalty. We both highly recommend this venue and if you do, definitely get the Schnitzel, Prost!

The only recommendation to the venue would be to update their beverage packages to include seltzers such as High noons or White claws.

Credit to Mystic, mystic@mystiicxfilms.com
Screen shots from her videography of our big day.
DJ recommendation, Ted Karter, Owner djtedkarter@gmail.com of Soundproof Entertainment.
Photography Emma and Ezra of emma@equilibriumphotos.com
Photobooth, Clearchoice Photos;
lisa@clearchoicephotos.com
David@ckearchoicephotos.com

This venue was beautiful for our June 1, 2024 wedding. The lighting, table arrangements, the patio overlooking the pond, it was all so beautiful and made for beautiful photo opportunities. Christine was wonderful to work with and was fantastic with communication and our accommodations. She even gave me her personal line to text throughout the entire process. Working with her and the staff was painless and the whole team was very professional. The food was AMAZING! My guests are still raving about it! All around 5 stars and I completely recommend!

I cannot say enough good things about this venue and the amazing staff that came with it. My husband and I visited several venues before meeting with Christine and upon first impression we easily knew this was going to be the place we say our I do's.

Christine (the events coordinator) was fantastic every step of the way and very responsive to all questions and concerns. If she did not have an answer up her sleeve, she was adamant to find the answer quickly.

The venue was beautiful with a huge spacious parking lot, plenty of space to accommodate guests as well as a huge dance floor that was readily available without moving tables or furniture around.
In the event of uncooperative weather (which we did experience) there were plenty of options to choose from and everything was handled by the venue in order to keep the day stress free.
The food.... don't even get me started on the food!!
The food is incredible!!
The salmon is by far the best I have ever tasted, and the chicken Florentine literally melts in your mouth.
Guests were sprinting back to the buffet for more!
Dinner was served buffet style by white gloved staff who I will also add were so very kind and approachable.
There is also a small playground area outside in the event you do have a child friendly reception.

If I had to do it all over again I would not second guess booking with Donauschwaben's!

Guests are still telling me what a beautiful wedding we had and how amazing the venue and staff were.
No complaints at all.

You will not regret booking with Christine and the staff of Lenau Park.

Side not: VERY affordable with the appearance you spent some BIG BUCKS.

I can not say enough about the choice of venue my son and his new bride chose! Starting with the coordinator Christine! She was absolutely amazing!! Any question we had she answered! She was there from the beginning. She asked what we had planned for decor and when we told her it was an elegant Star Wars themed wedding, hence it being on May 4, 2024. She was so excited. I think she was as excited to see everything set up the day before as we were! And she was there to make sure if we needed anything or had any questions, which we did she had the answers along with the staff that was helping set the room up along with us! As for the day of the wedding I could not have asked for a more great group of people to take care of this event for us! From the serving staff making sure the food was filled and refilled and always available, clearing tables constantly but making sure you were finished before they even took a fork, glass or plate! They definitely went above and beyond! And as for the chef who prepared the food it was absolutely amazing everyone was still talking about it days after the wedding. Oh and how he made a baby Yoda out of the cheese and crackers, which he did on his own after seeing the room set up! I just think that was above and beyond. Even when it was over and we were cleaning up they were so helpful. Packed up cake for the bride and groom so they would have it for the next day! If you are looking for an elegant place and want to be treated as a person not an account this is definitely the place! I’m so happy we chose Donauschwaben German-American Cultural Center!

Ebner/Beach Wedding My daughter Melanie and her husband Adam celebrated their wedding at German-American Cultural Center on Saturday December 16, 2023. All of our expectations were exceeded. The service was fantastic, the food was served hot and was delicious. Compliments to the chef and his kitchen staff. We received many compliments on the food which is exactly what we hoped for. Christine coordinated everything beautifully and she treated us with care and courtesy. We are very happy and will recommend this venue with confidence. Thank you to a great staff.

We cannot say enough good things about Donauschwaben's. We knew the minute we met Christine that this was where we wanted our wedding reception to take place. Our wedding was on December 16 and everything was decorated beautifully. The food was absolutely amazing. It was the number one thing our guests raved about. It was hot and delicious!!! Christine was the easiest to work with. Anytime we had a question she responded immediately. We were stress free knowing Christine had everything handled. The Staff was professional and kind to all of our guests and that was extremely important to us. All we can say is....If you are planning a wedding reception or any event, for that matter, you will not be disappointed with Donauschwaben's!!! Thank you Christine and Staff for making our Wedding Day everything we hoped for and more!

We recently had our wedding reception at Donauschwaben on November 11th and we would highly recommend this venue to anyone interested in having an event there. The venue is gorgeous and big enough to hold both small and large events. They decorated the venue perfectly to our specifications ensuring everything looked gorgeous and we were thrilled with the results when we arrived for our big day. The food is absolutely amazing, all of our guests were raving about how good the food was for the entirety of the event. We upgraded to the Prime Rib and it was cooked to perfection along with the other entrees and everything was absolutely delicious. The staff is very accommodating and made sure that everything went perfect and there was never a wait for a drink. We were impressed at how well the whole event went and have had all our guests mention how much they loved both the venue and food after the fact. We were extremely satisfied with our experience there and they really made our big day special.

We booked Donauschwaben for our end of October wedding ceremony and reception. We had a large guest list of around 250 people, and had 200 attend the day's festivities. The venue fit everyone very comfortably, had a large dance floor, and the food was fantastic. Christine, the venue coordinator, was very helpful when planning our big day. We were able to come in the day before our wedding day to set up which was very much appreciated. We would recommend this venue to anyone looking to book a larger space!

Donauschwaben's was a wonderful location for our wedding reception. The events manager, Christine, and other staff were so nice and awesome to work with. They made the whole process really easy. The hall is beautiful and has plenty of space for guests. The food was so delicious and our guests raved all night how good it was. Our favorites were the giant pretzels, pot stickers, and herb crusted pork loin. Everything we tried was amazing. It was such a wonderful experience and definitely would highly recommend this location.

I had my wedding at the Donauschwaben’s center back in June and it was honestly the PERFECT day. I was able to have my ceremony on the outdoor patio and my reception inside. The staff went above and beyond to make my day special. The food was delicious! My guests had nothing but good things to say. Highly recommend to anyone!

My Wife and I could not be more thankful for how wonderful Christine and the rest of the staff were to work with! Planning a wedding can be a stressful time but picking Donauschwaben and being able to work with Christine was a breeze. The venue is absolutely beautiful as is, the food was delicious, and the staff was very friendly and attentive. We really cannot thank Christine enough for always answering our questions at all hours and for being so accommodating to our last minute changes. Having our wedding at Donauschwaben was perfect and we couldn’t be happier!

Christine was a pleasure to work with and I am very grateful I chose them! It’s a beautiful under seen venue that I will cherish forever. Thank you for everything!

Our experience at this venue was excellent.
From the staff to management, we would certainly recommend this venue
to a friend.

We had our wedding on 10/10/2020 at Donauschwaben. It was a great experience! From the beginning, it was so easy to work with Becky and her team. Everything was detailed and organized. Even when COVID came about, the venue was in contact with us and kept us up to date about restrictions that could affect our wedding. We had a wonderful food tasting session with Marianne and Sandra. They were able to answer our questions and address our concerns. The grounds and building itself were beautiful. Our guests loved the patio and being able to walk around the venue outside. It was also nice that we were the only wedding there that day. On the day of the wedding, Becky and her team were so attentive to every detail, which made the evening run so smoothly. The food was delicious! Many of our guests raved about the food and the venue itself. Everyone at Donauschwaben did such an amazing job! We highly recommend Donauschwaben for any event needs (especially weddings)!

I had the pleasure of working with Becky for a wedding I coordinated and officiated this past June. Becky was very much on top of things (even having to move the ceremony inside that morning due to rain). She was very easy to work with and she and her staff did a great job all day. She was very responsive to any inquires, and I really enjoyed working with her. The food for the wedding was fantastic!

This was a great venue. Roni was awesome and helped us a lot. Food was great of course to.

My daughter Jessica's wedding reception was the end result, following an destination wedding in Jamaica in May. She wanted to wait until fall for her wedding reception, and they wanted more of a party than many of the traditions of a wedding reception. When we went to see the venue it hit all of the right buttons: large hall, separate bar, beautiful patio with view and good menu options. When we meant Ronni, she was so upbeat and interested in Jess and Tony's vision of their reception. They were so accommodating to updating the bar options and menu options, including Jess being adamant about no salads, instead an option of fresh vegetables at each table was suggested. We also went one evening when the hall was available for potential wedding parties to see it fully set-up with many choices on table coverings, seat coverings, centerpieces and lighting. This was very convenient and took the guess work out of what the venue would look like on that night. I cannot speak highly enough about working with Ronni. She was very interested and listened to the bride and groom, so they received the party of their dreams. As the mother of the bride, I was very happy and told so many people. But, best of all, we had guest after guest talk to us after the reception that it was one of the best parties that had attended in a long time and commented how great was the food.

This venue is beautiful and large, with a great dance floor. Also ideal for outdoor ceremonies. We had our September ceremony on the spacious patio overlooking the lake and it was beautiful! The staff and coordinator were so accommodating. She went over everything in detail and helped me through the entire event. The food was by far the best ever!!! It was one of the main reasons we picked the German club, everyone raved about the food. We even had a guest with a severe food allergy and they prepared a separate meal for him, outstanding service! Our guests had a great time!

We absolutely loved the food!! so good. all of our guests thought it was fantastic! Honestly everything was perfect and we could not have asked for a better place. The staff was helpful and courteous the whole night! From setting up our cookie table and putting out our centerpieces they did a lot for us!

I wish I could give the hall more than 5 on each of these! Ronni the coordinator was more than helpful and absolutely wonderful to work with. Being married for the first time, planning a wedding is not as easy as you may think in the beginning. Ronni was an absolutely wonderful coordinator. My parents had lots of general commentary throughout wedding planning, but when they saw the hall they loved everything about it! Ronni was very sweet and dedicated to the bride and groom's requests. She had great suggestions for compromises and was very helpful from the beginning to the actual day! She came up to me personally 3-4x that night to ask if everything was going well and if I needed anything. Her and her team made our night flow flawlessly and everyone had a blast. The hall was stunning and she helped immensely with the many vendors I hired. She even suggested vendors when I had no idea where to begin for things like linen. She always had a smile on her face and made stressful planning light hearted as she was willing to work with us on everything. When you host a party/reception you are usually the one running around to make sure everything is going well, but with Ronni and her team there the whole time, I had not one worry and we got to enjoy the most perfect night with our close friends and family who all had nothing but wonderful things to say about the reception. We HIGHLY suggest!
(P.S. the schnitzel and chicken marsala are delicious!)

Food was awesome! Easy to work with and very accommodating!! Huge dance floor!

Ronni, the event coordinator, was very easy to work with. She was very professional and was very receptive to our requests and ideas. Our wedding reception was a destination, for us anyway, and Ronni was very flexible in meeting with us in person, answering our phone calls and emails regardless of the time or day. She was able to secure a couple of special requests that were very important to us and made sure that everything was how we imagined it when we arrived.

The venue is amazing and is reminiscent of a German beer hall. The dance floor is huge which was important for the volume of dancers on our guest list. The hall looks great when it is decorated and gives a very comfy feeling despite the enormous size!

The food here is awesome as well. We wanted a German flare to our meal which was right in their wheelhouse. They can be as simple and traditional or as exotic as you like. There is a bar/restaurant on the premise with a full time chef so they definitely know what they are doing and have plenty of experience with big, hungry groups.

I would recommend this venue to anyone needing a large space for a reasonable cost.

Ronni Polo, the banquet coordinator, was awesome to work with. She was available by phone, email and in person. She is very enthusiastic, knowledgeable, organized and hard working. She helped plan our rehearsal dinner, ceremony location on the patio and reception. The food at the Donauschwaben was absolutely delicious and not the boring food you typically get at weddings. There was plenty of food for our buffet and we received many complements on the facility as well as the quality and taste of the food. The appetizers were typical boring wedding appetizers, but dinner was outstanding for both the rehearsal dinner and reception. I wouldn't hesitate to have another function there. Ronni has an infectious smile that put us at ease. She arranged our decorations so we could focus on getting ready for the wedding ceremony. She helped collect our decorations for us at the end of the reception. The facility was very clean and spacious. I highly recommend using The Donauschwaben if you want everything to run smoothly and have delicious food.

We were EXTREMELY pleased with our experience - before, during and after our event. After starting to work with another site and hearing a lot of "No", it was a great pleasure to work with such an accommodating site. Roni (Banquet Coordinator) was more than fantastic to work with. The food was delicious, hot and elegantly presented. Overall enjoyable, stress free experience - they really know what they're doing and do it well!
4.5 instead of 5 on the value only because I felt the appetizer prices were a bit high.

Becky was fantastic to work with and she did whatever she could to make our day special for us.

Ronnie is awesome to work with but the bartenders need a lot of work! They were very rude and not accommodating at all. It was a bit embarrassing because a lot of guests at the wedding complained about them. side from the bartenders everything was amazing!!!!!

My husband, John, and I got married here on 1-19-19 during a huge blizzard named Harper.  The snow started at about 11:00am and never stopped. It was beautiful!

I decorated and made sure the hall was all set up the day prior. Upon arrival the day of the ceremony, it was even more perfect than I could have imagined! Becky and her crew really outdid themselves! Our 530pm ceremony was postponed until 6pm due to the weather conditions. I hid in the basement and waited patiently as all of our guests arrived safely. We hosted a happy hour after the ceremony, the bartenders did a fantastic job!  Chef Mike did an amazing job with the holdovers, as well! We chose a sit down dinner in lieu of the buffet. The meal was outstanding, even our guests that were served last mentioned they had warm food which was a concern I had been worried about because of a past experience at weddings in other locations. I highly recommend Honey Pecan Chicken. Our guests are still talking about the food!!

Everything was perfect. I had no worries at all because I knew I was in great hands!!

So, you wonder why I give them a 4 vs a 5?
I had a handful of kids attend our wedding.  Just a few close family members and close friends. I did hire 2 babysitters to watch over them.  The babysitters and I met working weddings at a party center in Cleveland. I was told by my 7 year old daughter, my niece and both babysitters that the banquet coordinator yelled at them pretty badly about the girls having too much fun and throwing flower petals from my bouquet on the floor. She was worried they would be sued because of the petals and made a huge deal about it.   Secondly, after the reception, the blizzard was more high risk than when it began.  Uber and Lyft were not responsive because of how dangerous Harper had become. Seniors were falling all over the place and there were a few small car  accidents in the parking lot. One guest was all on fours in parking lot for at least 5 mins because of how slippery it became. My husband was struggling to pack our car and fell, as well. It was a freaking mess!!! We asked if we could leave our belongings at the venue until the storm passed. They refused to accommodate us because they were afraid of being sued (once again) if anything were to happen.

The banquet coordinator had no sympathy once so ever!!!!!!!

So, it was hard to give 4 bc maybe a 3.5 would have been better.

The Donauschwaben is the perfect place for a big wedding! The reception hall fits up to 500 people. The dance floor is huge (loved it)! The food was delicious!!! We had multiple guests come up and say it was the best wedding food they have had. The giant pretzel aftertizers were fantastic. I agree, the food was all so delicious, however fell a bit short when it came to the vegetarian dish. I would have loved for the vegetarians to have felt the same way as all the meat eaters did about their food.

The venue looked beautiful and the patio was a nice ceremony spot.

The work staff were so sweet and did a great job during the ceremony/reception. They were friendly and worked hard.

For the most part things ran smoothly during the planning period, however we did run into a few snags. We worked through them and it all worked out. However, they did cause some frustration. One main problem we faced was that we were told a number of things were to be included when we first met with the coordinator. Then later were told they weren't included or were an extra fee. We are aware this was most likely related to the change in coordinators in the middle of our planning process. My tip to help planning run smoother with fewer snags would be to make sure you are very clear about what will be included in your package and what will not or what will be an additional fee. Make sure to record the things that have been agreed apon and have the coordinator record them as well to help with smoother sailing. The coordinator we worked with for the remainder of the planning process answered all of our questions and helped to make sure things were set up and ready to go on the day of.

Something that rubbed us wrong were the comments my husband and I recieved from our guests (including our parents) after the wedding (both later that night after leaving the venue and the next day during our farewell brunch). Mainly that the coordinator was very unfriendly to talk with and was mentioning things that should have only been shared with one of us. These comments were disappointing to hear. I am sure if we had clarified before hand to mention comments/concerns of any kind with us rather than our guests things would have been better.

Despite those snags, we would definitely recommend the Donauschwaben to have your wedding/reception! It is a beautiful location and the food was fantastic!